This invention relates to intraocular lenses (IOLs) and more particularly to cases and cartridges used to ship and inject IOLs into an eye.
The human eye in its simplest terms functions to provide vision by transmitting and refracting light through a clear outer portion called the cornea, and further focusing the image by way of lens onto the retina at the back of the eye. The quality of the focused image depends on many factors including the size, shape and length of the eye, and the shape and transparency of the cornea and lens.
When trauma, age or disease cause the lens to become less transparent, vision deteriorates because of the diminished light which can be transmitted to the retina. This deficiency in the lens of the eye is medically known as a cataract. The treatment for this condition is surgical removal of the lens and implantation of an artificial lens or IOL.
While early IOLs were made from hard plastic, such as polymethylmtharcrylate (PMMA), soft foldable IOLs made from silicone, soft acrylics and hydrogels have become increasingly popular because of the ability to fold or roll these soft lenses and insert them through a smaller incision. Several methods of rolling or folding the lenses are used. One popular method is an injector cartridge that folds the lenses and provides a relatively small diameter lumen through which the lens may be pushed into the eye, usually by a soft tip plunger. The most commonly used injector cartridge design is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,102 (Bartell), the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, and includes a split, longitudinally hinged cartridge. Similar designs are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,484 and 5,499,987 (Feingold) and 5,616,148 and 5,620,450 (Eagles, et al.), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In an attempt to avoid the claims of U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,102, several solid cartridges have been investigated, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,604 (Rheinish, et al.) and 5,653,715 (Reich, et al.), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
These prior art cartridges are not suitable for sterilizing or shipping the IOL, and all currently available IOLs that use injection cartridge are shipped in a separate case and must be transferred to the cartridge prior to injection. This requires extra handling by the surgical staff in the operating room.
Accordingly, a need continues to exist for an IOL injector cartridge that can also be used as a shipping case.
The present invention improves upon prior art injector cartridges by providing a cartridge having a distal injector portion and a proximal shipping portion. The injector portion and the shipping portion are join be a hinge that allows the shipping portion to be rotated so that the lens, when held in the shipping portion, aligns with the bore of the injector portion. The shipping portion may also be flexible so as to provide a prefold to the lens.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a lens injector cartridge that can be used to both ship the lens and inject the lens into the eye.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lens injector cartridge that generally folds the lens.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lens injector cartridge that minimizes the potential for damage to the optics and/or the haptics.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a lens injection cartridge having a distal injector portion and a proximal shipping portion.